Dear Bob and Sue: A National Parks Podcast

#21: One Man’s Wilderness: Lake Clark National Park


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No state in the Union has more public space than Alaska; nearly 90% of the land is owned by the state or federal government, and amongst the vast, untamed lands are eight national parks. Lake Clark National Park, about 120 miles southwest of Anchorage, is one of the most remote. It’s also where one man spent three-plus decades living as one with the wilderness in a small log cabin he built himself on the shore of a magnificent mountain lake. In this episode we talk about our experience in the park and visiting Dick Proenneke’s cabin; the man who documented his wilderness experience and became an advocate for preserving Alaska’s pristine natural places.


Some of the topics we discuss in this episode:

  • Where Lake Clark National Park is located
  • How to get to the park
  • Where we stayed when we visited the park
  • How we got to Twin Lakes, the site of Dick’s cabin
  • What it was like to see the cabin in its restored condition
  • Meeting the volunteer rangers who now care for Dick’s cabin

  • Links to more information:

    • To see photos from our travels, visit our
    • Instagram account, or
    • TikTok account
    • One Man's Wilderness: An Alaskan Odyssey book on Amazon
    • Alone in the Wilderness video on Amazon
    • NPS site about Dick Proenneke
    • One Man’s Alaska documentary
    • No Place Like Twin Lakes video
    • Where to learn more about our books and travels
    • Join the conversation on Facebook
    • Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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      Dear Bob and Sue: A National Parks PodcastBy Matt and Karen Smith

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